When the Wii launched in 2006, the console’s original code name, the Revolution, felt pretty appropriate.

Its emphasis on motion gaming made it a tremendous success, particularly with people who formerly had been nongamers. Nintendo soon had everybody from small children to great-grandparents bowling in their living rooms.

Now Nintendo is trying to repeat that phenomenon with its new console, the Wii U. As a hook, it uses a tablet-like controller with a touch screen in the middle and buttons on the sides — as if a standard controller and an iPad had a child together.

It is not merely a new controller for the Wii, nor is it a handheld system like a 3DS. It’s a whole new console, and while that means a larger investment — $299.99 for the 8GB basic set and $349.99 for the 32GB deluxe — it’s worth it.

This system is much more powerful than the old Wii and thus capable of much more. Don’t worry about spending a fortune on new controllers, though. Most of your old Wii controllers should work with the Wii U.

On the surface, the Wii U’s GamePad controller is brilliant. It’s essentially a cross between a standard video game controller and an iPad.

In many ways, playing the Wii U feels like playing a really big Nintendo DS. You have one screen, your TV, displaying one thing, and you have a second touch screen, the GamePad, showing another thing. How games handle the two screens will vary.

Some, like New Super Mario Bros. U, show the same thing on both screens and let you watch whichever screen you want (allowing you to play even when the TV is off). Other games, like Nintendo Land, are all about using both screens in tandem for unique experiences.

All of this has the potential to bring very cool game play experiences to your living room. The GamePad feels great to hold and works well, and I definitely wouldn’t mind using it more.

At the end of the day, though, it’s all going to come down to what games are released for it.

Right now, the Wii U feels like a natural progression from the Wii. Playing Nintendo Land with the family can echo the feeling of playing Wii Sports. It’s charming, it’s simple, and it does a lot of things that you simply won’t find on any other gaming console. In that sense, it’s a big success.

The Wii U is going to live or die by the originality it can bring to the table. ZombiU, a game that uses the GamePad in unique ways to deliver a great mature and hard-core game, is great not because it’s violent (though it is), but because it’s challenging.

If your family primarily plays the Wii and never got a PS3 or Xbox 360, upgrading to the Wii U is probably a good investment. Not only will it provide more of the same family-friendly fun, but it will also let you catch up on some of what you’ve been missing from the high-definition era of video games.

For everybody else, you have a bit of time to wait and see what developers bring to the table. The groundwork has been laid for some really awesome Wii U games, and I hope they get made, but there aren’t enough of them here yet.

Pros: Easy to pick up and learn; asymmetric game play with two screens brings exciting new potential; playing on the GamePad screen alone is convenient; compatible with most Wii games and accessories.

Cons: Will be outpowered by new consoles as soon as next year; not yet enough exclusives to entice owners of Xbox 360s and PS3s; online experience needs work.